For Wednesday’s “First Call,” we take a look at Doug Whaley’s comments about Ben Roethlisberger’s future with the Steelers.
There are Steelers aplenty on an all-time historically Black colleges and universities list. Bruce Boudreau may want to get back into coaching. A former Penguin is getting back in gear.
And Tiger Woods was apparently en route to meet a pair of high-profile NFL quarterbacks before his car accident.
Whaley’s words
If you believe Ben Roethlisberger’s agent Ryan Tollner — and it appears the NFL Network does — Ben Roethlisberger is coming back as Steelers quarterback next year.
Ben Roethlisberger will indeed be back as the #Steelers starting QB this fall. Just connected w/ the two-time Super Bowl winner’s agent, Ryan Tollner, who said this: pic.twitter.com/YnWRWwkbeM
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) February 23, 2021
As I wrote recently, I always felt that Kevin Colbert’s “As we sit here today, Ben is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers” quote read more ominous in print than it sounded on tape.
I said on WDVE at the time of those comments, I was 60% in favor of the belief that Roethlisberger would be returning to the team in 2021. Now I’m feeling even better about that prediction.
Note, I said that I’m “feeling better about the prediction.” Not so much feeling good about the news.
I think the best thing for the Steelers to do is cut Roethlisberger and move forward with their rebuilding efforts. Also, you’d now get one full year of a look at Mason Rudolph to prove yourself right or wrong on that pick. Or you could draft a quarterback in the first round if one you like becomes available.
But that’s just me.
Actually, no, it isn’t. Doug Whaley said the same thing this week on 93.7 The Fan.
The former Buffalo Bills general manager and former Steelers pro personnel coordinator also placed the odds of a Roethlisberger return at “60% he stays, 40% he goes.”
And he agrees with my view of the prospect of reworking Roethlisberger’s contract to keep him around for another year.
“Yes. The Steelers could cut Roethlisberger. The Steelers were here before him. And they’ll be here when he’s gone,” Whaley told the “PM Team” on Monday.
“Me personally, I would say, ‘Thank you Ben, you’re the best, we wouldn’t have two Super Bowl trophies without you, you will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, we’ll play in the Hall of Fame game when you’re inducted, we will have you back to put you on the wall, but thanks for your service, we’re gonna have to go in a different direction for both of us.’”
I couldn’t agree more.
Whether Big Ben comes back next year or not, I don’t see the Steelers as a playoff team. And I certainly don’t see them as a Super Bowl contender. So another season returning with Roethlisberger just feels like putting off the inevitable change at quarterback and allowing the desire for a smooth retirement for Roethlisberger to supersede what’s best for the long-term interests of the franchise.
Elsewhere in “First Call”…
Steelers standouts
In honor of Black History Month, Touchdown Wire compiled a list of the best players from HBCUs — or historically Black colleges and universities — in pro football history.
As anyone who knows the history of the Steel Curtain will tell you, Hall of Fame scout Bill Nunn famously mined the unheralded talent of those schools to build the Super Steelers of that decade. So it’s no surprise to see many of those players included on the list.
As well as one superstar from the 1990s.
Will Bruce be back?
“Buffalo Bruce” Boudreau was always a favorite target of Penguins fan mockery when he was the head coach of the Washington Capitals.
Eventually he was fired after five years. He was hired and fired within five years in Anaheim, too. Then after four years with the Minnesota Wild.
Now, The Athletic says he may be interested in making a return to the league with the expansion Seattle Kraken.
Getting going
Former Penguin Alex Galchenyuk is on yet another team, his third since leaving the Penguins last February. He’s now with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He hasn’t practiced since being acquired in a trade with Ottawa on Feb. 15. But now appears ready to skate.
More details
We’re finding out more details about that car accident which injured Tiger Woods. Shelly Smith of ESPN is reporting that Woods was en route to meet NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Justin Herbert for a scheduled photo shoot when the accident occurred.
